His mother sighed. “If you think she has it in her, then okay, but I won’t have her running around the castle acting like a human. Keep her out of my way until she’s ready.”
Kieron devoured the plate of food in front of him before jumping up from the table. “May I be excused?”
“Yes, fine. Go and move her to your wing.” His mother waved him away.
“I’ll go with him and ensure it’s done without any disruption, dear,” his father said.
Kieron followed his father out of the dining room at a steady pace, fighting against the urge to run to the south wing to reach Dora sooner.
As soon as they were out of sight of his mother, Kieron and his father glanced at each other. “Shit!” they said in unison before racing towards the southern wing.
“Nooooo!” Kieron heard Dora’s cry followed by an animalistic shriek. He dashed down the corridor towards the dungeon.
What are they doing to her? No, no, no. I’m coming, Dora-minx. I’ll save you!
He came to an abrupt halt at her cell door, panting for air. When he glanced into the cell, he frowned and blinked at the scene before him. After a few seconds, his father caught up with him. They stared in silence through the bars at Dora.
“You idiot,” Dora said to a tortured soul sitting opposite her. “You can’t bluff with four kings.” She gestured to the three other tortured souls in the room. “Seriously guys, none of you have played poker before? How is that even possible?”
The tortured souls around her shrugged. A large one with green goo dripping from his eyes chuckled before letting out an insane shriek. A big blob of goo splattered on the floor in front of him.
“Dude, you’re so cleaning that up. No way I’m taking the blame from Lady Lamer for it.” She told the soul, who grumbled something unintelligible in reply.
Kieron stared at Dora in awe. She’d not only tamed the tortured souls, but was also playing poker with them! “Dora, are you okay?” he asked through the bars.
She turned to face him. He sighed with relief when he saw her bright smile lighting up her face. “Kieron these guys are fab. Did you know Larry could fart fire? It’s fuckin’ epic!” She gestured to the skinny soul sitting across from her who demonstrated by shooting a blast of fire out of his backside.
“No, I did not know that. Um, I came here to save … er, to take you to nicer rooms.” He didn’t know what to say. No one had ever tamed a tortured soul this fast before.
“Impressive,” Kieron’s dad said behind him. HHe glanced back to see his father was watching Dora with a gleam in his eyes. Kieron didn’t like the gleam, at all.
“Oh, hi Lionel.” She waved at him.
Kieron waited for his father to unlock the cell before he rushed into the room. He needed to make sure she was okay. He offered her a hand, and she accepted by placing her small hand into his. He pulled her up from the floor, keeping hold of her hand once he had it in his grasp. She was far too carefree. In Hell, other demons would take advantage of that kind of thing.
A glow of warm happiness flowed through him when she gave him a brief hug. His pulse raced until she released him and turned to face the tortured souls.
“It’s been a total blast guys. Once I’m settled in my new room, I’ll come back and we can play again, okay?”
The tortured souls nodded and made agreeable noises. “Poker night.” Larry suggested.
“That’s a fab idea,” she replied. “Friday night is now poker night.”
The souls all nodded in agreement before evaporating from the room, leaving tendrils of smoke in their wake.
“Come on. Let’s get you to a better room.” Kieron tugged on her hand to guide her out of the cell. He was relieved when she followed him.
“Yeah, one with a bathroom would be good,” she said with a laugh.
Kieron hugged her. He couldn’t help it. He’d been so worried about her and was overjoyed she was okay.
“Um Kieron, does your mom have a multiple personality disorder? Is she bipolar or something?” Dora peered up at him with concern in her eyes.
He heard his dad laughing behind them. “That’s my girl. Wait until you meet the rest of the family, Dora. You’ll love the barbeque.”
Kieron groaned. He hoped his grandmother wasn’t coming to the family barbeque this week. She was a nightmare.
Dora smoothed down the knee-length black dress she wore. It was silky and strapless with a fitted bodice and a flared skirt. Kieron had conjured it for her, along with a pair of black sandals and diamond earrings.
She looked in the mirror and twirled, grinning.
Good taste in clothes, and apparently he can dance too. I’d swear he was gay if I didn’t know better.
She was in her new room at Castle Lascher. The room was stylishly decorated and had a big, comfortable bed in it. She'd been overjoyed when she discovered it also had a private bathroom with a luxurious tub and a power shower.
She felt much better for having a bath and putting on clean clothes. Better, but not perfect. Tonight was the family barbecue. She didn’t know what to expect because everything in Hell was so weird. She had a feeling Castle Lascher was weirder than most places in Hell.
A gentle knock at the door startled her.
Oh no, he’s here already! I must be crazy to willingly meet more of Kieron’s family.
She shook her head and tried to shake off a feeling of impending doom as she walked over to the door and opened it.
Kieron stood in the doorway, wearing an old-fashioned black suit that fitted his broad shoulders and accentuated his lean form. He flashed a smile that lit up his face, adding a bright sparkle to his eyes. Something fluttered in her chest.
Okay, that’s not fair. He looks hotter than I do!
He held out his arm for her. “M’lady.” He winked.
She took his arm and peered up at him. “I ain’t no lady.” She grinned.
His eyes widened with a look of shock before he laughed. “Silly, Dora-minx, you’re a lady here.”
“Huh?” She frowned.
What the hell does that mean?
“Lady Dora-minx,” he said. “Dad registered you last night.”
“Registered me where, exactly?”
“At the Demon Academy … er, school to you.”
“I have to go to school?” She scowled. That sounded like work.
“It’s okay. We’re going together. You’ll be fine.”
Panic bubbled in her stomach. She didn’t do well in school. She never had. Schools tended to have one substantial flaw—people went to them. She could handle most things, but other people were just impossible. School grouped people together and made them worse. It forced them to gather and compete for popularity, grades or some other stupid crap. It didn’t matter what they competed for, they still turned into total assholes. “Do I really have to go to school?”
“It’s the only way you can stay here. You have to pass the Judgement Day tests.”
“Ugh! Can’t I just read evil in a book?”
“Um, no, evil is more practical here, less reading and more action.”
“Okay, I’ll go, but I won’t like it,” she replied with a feeling of defeat.
“Don’t worry about it tonight. You have enough to worry about—like surviving my relatives.” Kieron frowned.
“Are they that bad?”
“Let’s just say, my mother is a dream in comparison to them.”
Dora gulped.
Is it even possible for there to be anyone worse than Lady Lascher?
She glanced up and realised Kieron was staring at her.
“What?”
“Oh, nothing.” He turned away as his face flushed with colour.
“What?” she repeated and elbowed him in the side, so he’d look in her direction, again.
“It’s just y-y-you look very pretty in your dress,” he stammered.
“That has you blushing?”
“Well, no … sort of.” He coughed, clearly embarra
ssed. “I was wondering what you looked like under the dress.”
She pushed him over. “You’re like a walking hormone!” she said with disgust.
He looked up at her from the floor with surprise on his face. “I don’t know why you did that?”
“I did it so you would stop imagining what was under my dress.” She snapped.
“Well I don’t have to imagine it now. I can see it at this angle,” he replied as he tilted his head sideways.
Dora yelped and jumped away from him, hugging her skirt around her legs.
Okay, he’s obviously not gay.
“Hurry up you two. If you’re late, I won’t be responsible for what happens to you.” Lionel’s voice bellowed up the stairs.
Kieron got up off the floor and brushed down his suit. “Sorry, sometimes I get the devil in me.” He held out his hand to her.
She wondered if he meant that literally as she took his hand and followed him down the stairs. They crossed the foyer and walked down a wide corridor into a vast ballroom filled with demons.
The room had tall onyx pillars dotted around the edges of the bustling dance floor. Vast buffet tables brimming with food and drinks ran along both sides of the room. Dora stared at the guests in awe. Massive beasts with horns and fangs mingled with sexy succubae. People in all styles of dress, from extravagant costumes to dull beige suits, chatted easily with demonic imps and ghostly apparitions.
A giant octopus-looking creature with eight slimy tentacles coming out of its back roared and wrapped its arms around an unassuming man in a frightening hug.
“Dora, stop staring,” Kieron whispered out of the side of his mouth.
“What is it?” she whispered back.
“Uncle Bernard.” He shifted his eyes to the octopus man.
She attempted to avert her eyes to the ceiling and not stare, but a green dragon flew into her line of sight and shot flames from its massive jaws onto a huge fire pit at the end of the room. The flames burned brightly, and all the guests turned to applaud. “Holy fucking crap,” she whispered to Kieron.
“Don’t swear here,” he hissed back.
“Sorry, holy crap.” She amended her words.
He turned to stare at her. “Dora, fucking is okay here, but holy is a swear word. Oh hell …” He shook his head and let out a worried sigh. “There are so many things you can do wrong here.”
She shivered. “I’ll be okay though, right?”
His expression did not make her feel terribly confident. “Yeah …” He surveyed the room and winced. “It’ll be fine, just—try not to speak.”
“Okay. Don’t worry. I can do this,” she said with more confidence than she felt.
“Is that my grandbaby, all grown up and with a girl? He’s not gay after all.” A female voice shrieked.
“Oh crap,” Kieron muttered.
Dora spun around to face the direction of the voice and saw what appeared to be a ten-foot Barbie doll walking towards them.
Well, if there is such a thing as ‘BDSM Barbie’ , she thought.
“That’s your grandmother?” She gaped, pointing to the giant blond amazon. She was wearing red leather underwear and dragging a short man behind her on a dog leash. She looked about twenty-five years old and sultry with curves in all the right places, but she was massive and towered over most of the people in the room.
As she made a beeline for them, Dora raised herself to her full height of five-foot eight, but it was still too short to do anything other than look up at BDSM Barbie.
“Hey Grandma.” Kieron sounded reluctant as he greeted the vivacious blonde.
“That’s all I get?” the amazon shouted. “Come ‘ere, you little midget of cuteness, and give Grammy a hug.” She scooped Kieron into her arms and almost suffocated him with her massive bosom. “Oh, eww!” His muffled cries came from somewhere between the fleshy mounds.
Dora bit the inside of her cheek to stop herself from bursting out laughing.
“Shrimp, Shrimp, Shrimp!” She heard chanting and glanced towards the back of the room to see crowds of demons gathering around the fire pit.
“Ah, ha!” Kieron’s Grammy released him and raised her fist in the air. “Let’s throw another shrimp on the barbie!” she cried.
Dora glanced at Kieron.
What the hell does that mean?
He shook his head. “She’s from down under,” he muttered in explanation.
“What Australia?” Dora asked.
“No, down under Hell, beneath the lava lakes. It’s the level of Hell that doesn’t get into the history books.”
“Why not?”
“Because it’s full of sexual deviants,” he muttered.
“Shrimp, shrimp, shrimp!” the crowds roared. The man on the leash behind Kieron’s grandmother sighed. He was about five-feet tall and slightly balding. He was wearing black leather pants and a dog collar. “I’m not doing it!” He snapped.
At that moment, a three-foot-tall blue demon with long ears and fuzzy orange hair scurried past them, hurriedly making its way to the exit.
“Ooh, a mini shrimp.” Kieron’s grandmother scooped it up in her arms and carried it through the crowds over her head. It wriggled and screamed. The crowds cheered as she launched the little demon into the fire pit.
“It’ll take weeks for its hair to grow back.” The man on the leash commented as he picked up his own leash and twirled the end of it.
“Dora, meet my grandfather, Hickory Lascher,” Kieron introduced the man on a leash as demons cheered at the blazing fire pit, and the blue creature’s screams echoed through the room.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Dora held out her dainty hand to Kieron’s grandfather.
Kieron noticed surprise flash across Hickory’s expression before he gathered his wits and shook her hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you too, Dora. I hear you’ll be joining us at the Daemon Academia?”
“Y-yes, I think I am,” she stammered.
Kieron sensed by her expression that she was wondering how old students were at the academy. He knew her well enough to realise that the idea of endless school was her own personal Hell. “Grandpa is the Headmaster.” He told Dora with a smile. A warm glow of happiness spread through his body when she breathed a sigh of relief and smiled back.
“So you’re the principal?” Dora asked Hickory.
“Headmaster,” Hickory said. He growled like a dog. “Principals in Hell suffer. They do not teach.”
“Oh, Sorry,” she apologised.
Kieron groaned on the inside. She was going to have to learn Hell-speak faster.
“Well, well, well. If it isn’t my favourite new girl.” Kieron heard his dad’s voice interrupt when he wandered over with Lady Lascher. He greeted his father with a nod because he’d saved Dora from asking more stupid questions, but he didn’t like the ‘my girl’ reference. In fact, it made him wary of his father’s interest in her.
She’s my Dora-minx, not his!
“Deviant devils!” His mother swore, her eyes set on his grandmother, who was sparring with a dragon over the fire pit. “That woman has no shame.”
His mother and grandmother had been in an ongoing battle for longer than he’d been alive. Their families had been enemies for centuries and would never see eye-to-eye on most things. When his father had married his mother, there had been an uproar about it in Hell. It was only because his dad had achieved the status of Lord of the Level that the marriage had been possible.
Kieron often romanticised their marriage. Like Romeo and Juliet, two houses had joined because of love. However, his mother often corrected him by telling him that love did not exist. It was lust, and—unlike Juliet—she could not kill herself to avoid her mother-in-law.
“Anika please, do you two always have to fight?” His father asked.
“If you prefer, I can fight with you instead?” His mother had a glint in her eyes that caused a shiver of fear to shoot down Kieron’s spine. It became evident that the comment had a
similar effect on his father when his face paled as the blood drained out of it.
“Why fight at all?” Dora asked. Kieron winced at the question.
His mother whipped her head around to stare at Dora, her short curls whipping around her face. She opened her mouth to speak, but luckily, Kieron’s father put a hand on her arm and intercepted. “Dora, the more you become accustomed to Hell, the more you’ll understand. Fighting is about power, and power is the most important commodity in Hell.”
“I thought knowledge was power?” Dora said.
His father laughed and beamed a smile at Dora. “That it is! You can’t fight well without knowledge.”
Kieron narrowed his eyes at his father. He didn’t like the look he was giving Dora. It happened when he spoke to her as if he enjoyed it or something. He knew he shouldn’t be jealous, but when Dora smiled back at his father, he felt a possessive need to compete with him for her. “That’s why you need to go to the academy, Dora. To gain knowledge and to learn to fight,” he said.
When she pulled a face at him, he realised that he’d just said the most stupid thing ever. He expelled a sigh. Idiot! His heart hammered every time he was near her, but alas, she did not feel the same.
I will make her like me, he told himself.
He pondered how he would achieve such a goal. He didn’t think she’d enjoy being tied up in his dungeon for a hundred years, although his father had told him it worked on some girls. No, Dora was different, so his approach had to be different.
“Ah, my family all together.” His grandmother’s booming voice interrupted his thoughts. “And the family prude is here too, wonderful.” She laughed at his mother, and Kieron winced with the knowledge of how this night would end.
“Ah Giganticor, I see you came to the party in your underwear again,” Kieron’s mother replied with a vicious look in her eyes.
“Well I can’t wear too much, dear. You cover up so much, people forget what flesh looks like.” His grandmother eyed the neck-to-toe emerald robes his mother was wearing. “Really dear, those robes look like curtains.”
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